Woman arrested in stabbing incident

August 14, 2003

By Darrell Todd Maurina

Two onlookers chased down and captured a woman from Missouri who stabbed her daughter-in-law about 11 a.m. Thursday morning, according to Clovis police reports.
Clovis Police Capt. Dan Blair said the daughter-in-law, Dawn Southern, 28, of Clovis, was treated and released at Plains Regional Medical Center following the incident outside an eatery at the corner of Main Street and Manana Boulevard.
Barbara Southern, 54, of Greenfield, Mo., has been charged with attempt to commit felony murder pending further investigation of the incident, according to Blair. She is being held without bond at the Curry County Adult Detention Center.
A weapon was recovered at the scene, Blair said. He has not seen the weapon but believes it was a knife.
“The motive is still under investigation,” Blair said.
Barbara Southern was also taken to the hospital for a checkup and was released.
A man who answered the telephone at Dawn Southern’s home said she is resting but declined further comment.
According to Clovis police reports, when police arrived they saw Dawn Southern sitting on the ground and holding her bleeding left side. Witnesses told police the person who stabbed her had fled west on Plaza Drive and was being chased by a man and woman. Police caught up with the three people at the 100 block of West Plaza Drive, where one of the pursuers had pinned Barbara Southern to the ground.
Southern refused to answer police inquiries at the scene.
Blair said what happens next will largely depend on results of the investigation.
“The felony preliminary investigation shows possibly she had the attempt to commit murder by killing her daughter-in-law,” Blair said. “I’m not clear exactly what was going on.”